The Sun's Light
by The Dark Knight's Revenge
Summary: Elisabeth Anderson grew up living in her brother's shadow and reading norse legends. When Loki spares her life during the battle of New York and sheer coincidence brings her into close friendship with Jane Foster in England, she is even more fascinated by Asgard and its wonders, including the god of mischief.


It's funny how being in the right place at the right time can change your life.

The first time I ever saw Loki was in a picture book when I was four. My mother read me stories about the ancient norse gods before bed most nights and I fell asleep dreaming of Bifrosts and Valkyries.

I always particularly remembered Loki's illustration because of his peculiar expression. My mother said that he was a cruel trickster, but when I saw his pale face I didn't see malice or mischief, I just saw a lack of feeling whatsoever.

I knew why; Loki was the unloved one between Odin's two sons. He would never be king or the favorite in his father's eyes, and that drove him to do the things he did.

Sometimes I knew how he felt. I was always in my brother's shadow too. He was two years older and a genius. He skipped to college before I even knew what algebra was. Daniel could do no wrong; mom and dad always thought he was perfect.

I was the awkward shadow. I was quiet, too tall for my age, and didn't have enough good looks to pique the interest of any guy around. At least, that's what my mother's friends always told her whenever they would talk about me while I was in earshot. They clucked and fussed, calling me "poor girl" and "little thing".

I thought, despite their commentary, that I grew into myself nicely. My teenage years saw the addition of some slender curves and that natural female grace that every woman eventually gets. That still didn't help me in the friend department though, so I took to studying in all the free time I had so I could get somewhere with my education.

Ten years later, I was successful. I had two degrees: one in astrophysics, the other in journalism. I worked for the New York times as a reporter by day and studied for my third degree, this time in political science, at night.

Where was my brother? Lost in the Canadian wilderness, studying the migration patterns of caribou. I always felt a stab of satisfaction during the holidays when I could proudly show my parents an award I'd gotten for my writing while my brother droned on about selective breeding and natural predators.

I never outwardly showed my satisfaction at finally eclipsing my older brother. I could never outwardly admit that I had always wanted to be the one getting the praise and admiration, that would make me hardly better than him. At least _I_ never asked to borrow money. In that respect, Loki and I were similar.

The second time I laid eyes on the Norse god was during the battle for New York. I was assigned to cover the fight from as far away as possible while still on Manhattan. I was downtown when the first strike came, so I just followed the action when I could. Unfortunately, that landed me in a bit of sticky situation.

_I had just crossed the avenue of the americas when two alien fighters screamed over my head. I ducked as one of them scraped a building and chunks of glass and metal came raining down on me. An explosion rocked the sidewalk beneath my feet. _

_I regained my balance and continued down the street, sidestepping piles of rubble as I went. _

_Another fighter went over, blasting the street behind me with its guns. Something green dropped from the sky, jumping off one of the fighters just circling overhead. I ran towards it. _

_I snuck up closer and saw a green clad figure waving some sort of staff at a knot of terrified people. Over the roar of the city burning, I could just make out his words. _

_"...kneel, and I will spare you." _

_The group slowly sank towards the ground, but several stayed standing, unsure of what to do. The man laughed, raising the staff. _

_"No!" I shouted, throwing the only object at my disposal at him. My camera. It caught him in the side of the head, effectively distracting him. The staff arced in my direction and I dodged the ray of light that flew out of it, ducking around a pile of rubble and running for a nearby alleyway. A quick look over my shoulder told me that the magical man was following me. _

_I flew down the alleyway, my lungs burning. I hadn't gotten far when my feet tangled and I hit the pavement hard, biting my lip. I spit out blood and tried to get up, but the butt of a metal staff pinned me down. _

_"Pathetic little mortal." The man's cold voice echoed. "Get up." _

_I did what I was told, flipping my long black curls out of my face and standing to face him defiantly. Now that I was closer, I recognized him. _

_"Loki." I said quietly. He used the staff to pin me against the bricks behind me. _

_"And how does a mortal like you know my name? Not that I'm not pleased." Loki said. _

_"I'm familiar with your story." I replied shortly. _

_"Are you? Well did your story predict this?" Loki said, grinning and gesturing to the destruction back out on the main street. _

_"No," I breathed. _

_"Are you impressed?" He asked. _

_"No," I replied. "Only disgusted."_

_"I should kill you for your impudence." Loki chuckled. _

_"Then do it." I threw back, eyes narrowed. Loki's head snapped up. He raised the staff threateningly. I willed myself not to flinch. _

_We stood there, blue and grey eyes locked. Loki's jaw clenched, then he lowered the staff. _

_I blinked, and he was gone. _

Not a day goes by where I don't wonder about that situation. It's been a while since then. I quit my job at the Times and took up a position at a lab in England, studying astrophysical reactions. That was where I met Jane Foster.

Jane was looking for her friend Erik Selvig. I'd met him once or twice; brilliant but strange. I loaned her some of my equipment and we became friends. Little did I know what our acquaintance would bring.


End file.
